


curiosity killed the cat (but satisfaction brought it back)

by delicatelyglitterywriter



Series: HSAUOR Extended Universe [4]
Category: Gallifrey (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:22:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25934335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delicatelyglitterywriter/pseuds/delicatelyglitterywriter
Summary: Romana wants to date Leela, but is very scared to ask.
Relationships: Leela/Romana II
Series: HSAUOR Extended Universe [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818331
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	curiosity killed the cat (but satisfaction brought it back)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The High School AU of Rassilon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22292131) by [clockworkouroboros](https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkouroboros/pseuds/clockworkouroboros). 



> thank you astra for the prompt that allowed me to create this delight.

Romana paces up and down just outside the door leading into the gymnasium, wringing her hands nervously. She can see inside through the window at the girls' basketball team practicing for their next game. The drills look intense, and, if she wasn't so nervous, Romana might be tired out just watching them. But she's too nervous to feel anything but, well,  _ nervous _ . She knows the best way to do this is to just go in and get it over with, but the idea terrifies her, and so she can't do anything but pace outside the door, and wring her hands.

"Trying to become as fit as the girls in there?"

Romana jumps, and whirls around to see Brax standing there, his usual enigmatic smirk on his face. She sometimes wonders if 'resting enigmatic face' is a thing, because if it is, Brax has mastered it.

"What do you mean?" she asks, her brain catching up with Brax's words. 

"Pacing up and down like that," Brax explains. "You must be giving your legs quite the workout."

Romana rolls her eyes. "My reasons for pacing are none of your concern, Braxiatel."

Brax's smirk falters just a little, but it's back before Romana can figure out if he's genuinely hurt by her tone. 

"It's not concern that made the observation," Brax recovers smoothly. "Merely curiosity."

Romana internally growls, frustrated. No sixteen year old had  _ any _ right to be as epigrammatic and waggish as Brax. Nevertheless, she keeps calm. Losing one's temper was  _ hardly _ becoming for a proper young lady such as herself. Okay, so she was  _ technically _ still a teenager and not quite a young lady yet, but she's close. Much closer than some  _ other _ girls she can name.

"Curiosity killed the cat," Romana shoots back, trying, and nearly almost succeeding, to mimic Brax's tone. She's just slightly disappointed when she finds she sounds more terse than witty. 

"And satisfaction brought it back," Brax offers, and it's all Romana can do to keep from glowering at him. Instead, she offers a self-restrained, unamused look, turns, and enters the gymnasium, if only to escape Braxiatel and his unrelenting...she can't even think of the right word, she's so agitated. 

She wrinkles her nose as she steps into the gymnasium, assaulted by the smell of sweat, and the warm air. She almost considers going back outside, but it only takes one glance over her shoulder to remind her why she came in in the first place, and all at once her nerves return to her, only much stronger this time. She glances around, looking for another exit, and sees two students come through a door at the far end, giving Romana her way out.

She glances at the court and sees the team doing another drill that looks awfully exhausting. Romana spies Leela and swallows, acutely aware of how dry her throat feels. She turns to go and get some water, deciding that Leela probably doesn't want to be interrupted right now, and is probably tired from the training, but it seems Leela has different ideas. She's made it about halfway across the gymnasium when a whistle sounds, and a second later, she hears her name being called out.

"Romana!" Leela calls. Romana turns and sees Leela jogging up to her, sweaty but smiling. Romana manages a half-smile, and she desperately hopes it's not too nervous.

"Hi, Leela."

"I saw you pacing outside," Leela says, falling into step next to her. "What has got you so troubled?"

"I'm not troubled!" Romana defends, and even as she says it, she realises how untrue it sounds. Leela huffs a laugh.

"You are a terrible liar, Romana. Tell me, what is bothering you."

Romana hesitates, her heart speeding up, and she suddenly feels really, really warm. She's sure the gymnasium hadn't been this warm when she entered. She swallows again, only to find her throat is somehow even drier than before.

"Romana?" Leela asks, concerned. "You have gone red, are you okay?"

Romana opens her mouth, but no words come out. She looks down and away. Leela touches her arm sympathetically, and she finds she can't even care that Leela's hand is sweaty. 

"Come, you should sit down."

Romana lets Leela lead her over to the wall and sit her down. When Leela offers Romana some water, Romana accepts it and tries to drink, but her body doesn't really let her. She passes the bottle back to Leela. Leela sighs.

"What  _ is _ the matter, Romana?"

"I..." Romana's not felt this afraid since she'd been caught in an out-of-bounds area in middle school. She takes a few deep breaths to try and calm herself, and then tries again, but refuses to look at Leela. "I, uh, well, I need to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I..." Romana groans inwardly. How  _ hard _ was it to just  _ get the damn words out?! _ She takes another deep breath, and forces the words out, all in a rush. "I like you a lot and I want to go on a date with you."

She exhales shakily when she's done, wishing she could have phrased it more eloquently. Her confession was so...gauche; it's hardly how she wanted to tell Leela. Leela doesn't speak for a few seconds, and it's an agonising few seconds for Romana.

_ Please don't say no, please don’t laugh, please... _

"How long have you had a crush on me for?" 

Romana looks up at the question and blinks a couple of times. Of all the responses she had expected, that question was not one of them.

"I...." Romana thinks. "Well, erm, about 6 weeks?"

Leela nods, slowly. "That is interesting."

"It...is?"

Romana's not sure what to think. She knows that she should have predicted this; that this is Leela and she seldom has conventional reactions, but even this is surprising to her.

Leela nods. "Yes."

"How? How is it interesting?"

"Because that is about the same amount of time I have had a crush on you."

Romana gapes, her mouth opening and closing as if she were a fish. For the first time in her life, she draws a blank on what to say.

"I... _ what?! _ "

Leela laughs. "You are not very good at this, Romana. I have been dropping hints for  _ weeks _ , how could you have not noticed? I thought you were supposed to be  _ good _ at observing."

Romana casts her mind back to the past several weeks, and all at once, she's able to pick out the little hints Leela dropped. She goes red again, but this time from embarrassment, and she silently berates herself for not noticing sooner; for being so caught up in her own crush on Leela, she didn't even notice Leela's on her. Why did feelings have to be so...inconvenient?

That thought sounded  _ far _ too much like something Narvin would say for her liking. She shudders.

She looks back at Leela and Leela smiles softly, speaking when she doesn't.

"Yes."

"What?"

"It is an answer to your first question," Leela says. "I am saying that yes, I would love to go on a date with you."

Romana's heart just about leaps out of her chest for joy.


End file.
